Birthday Girl
by SensationalShay
Summary: It's Lizzie's birthday but she's sad.


A/N: Thought this would be kinda cute for a story.

No Tom in this story as I can't stand that guy!

All mistakes are mine and mine alone.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did but I don't.

Also, one last thing. A guest, whom did not give their name, wrote me a review on my last story, A Co-Workers Debate. It was my very first negative (and slightly rude) review I've ever gotten. Up until then every review I've got has been so wonderful. Everybody who has read my stories have been so kind and very sweet to me which I appreciate very much. So I was a little taken back over this guest writing me their little note as I just wasn't prepared for something like.

That being said, to the guest, I'm sorry if you thought all the errors in that story made it hard to read and took the fun out of it. I always re-read my stories at least a half a dozen times before I post them and I didn't catch anything wrong. Even after you sent me your message I went back and had another look and still couldn't find anything that was truly awful. All I can say is I will try my best to do and be better in the future :)

* * *

"….HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

Lizzie stood at the head of the long rectangular table smiling as all her friends finished singing the Happy Birthday song to her.

"Make a wish Aunt Liz." said Hunter, who was one of her friend's five year old son.

Lizzie closed her eyes as she pretended to think before she leaned down and blew out all 31 candles in one fell swoop. Her friends clapped and took pictures of her.

Today Elizabeth turned 31 years old. When she woke up that morning she laid in bed thinking about her life. It all seemed like a blur to her now. She remembers the day Sam walked her into her 1st grade classroom. Trying out for softball at 9 years old and not getting picked because of her height and how disappointed she was. She remembers how terrified Sam was the day she got her driving learner's permit at 15. She remembers how she had to beg, pled and fight with her father about letting her go to the movies with 19 year old college bound Joshua Whitney at 16. Visions of herself going on her first date, getting her first kiss, graduating high school, getting accepted into the college she so desperately wanted, moving away and living on her own for the first time, being responsible for paying her own bills, her years at Quantico and living in New York all ran through Lizzie's head that morning.

From the ages 6 and onward, the years had seemed like they moved in slow motion. She was either a little girl who wasn't a big girl, a big girl who wasn't a teenager, a teenager who wasn't an adult or an adult who just hadn't had "life experience" yet.

Thinking back over her life, Lizzie knew she was a lucky girl. A single man whom she did not know took in a poor little girl and raised and loved her as her own. Dealt with her childish tantrums and teenage hormones. Tried his best to raise her to become a decent human being before letting her out in the world. If it hadn't been for Sam, Lizzie knew she would have been raised in a state run orphanage.

It had been six months since Sam had died. He beat the cancer the first time around but the second time was just to much for him. It always made her sad and yet happy to think about her father. He was a good man. He took her in so she wouldn't be an orphan. However, all he did was postpone the inevitable. Since he died, Lizzie felt and thought of herself as an orphan. Whenever that train of thought ran through her head she would laugh. An orphan at 30 years old but it was true. She had no one.

Sure, she had wonderful friends and she was thankful for all of them but she knew at the end of the day, she was truly alone in the world. No parents, grandparents, siblings, husband, children, nothing.

This was Lizzie's first birthday since her father passed away. She seriously considered calling in sick to work that morning but knew if she did she would have spent the day at home, in bed, crying and feeling sorry for herself. So, she took a deep breath, blinked the tears from her eyes, threw back the covers and got up to get ready for work.

* * *

When she arrived at the FBI Post Office, her co-workers surprised her with a small party in the break room. Meera and Aram had decorated it with balloons and streamers and Ressler had bought her the little mini banana nut muffins he knew she loved so much. She was really touched and very thankful she worked with such good people. Since the Anslo Garrick break in, she had gotten closer with the core FBI team. She had learned Meera had a daughter, Aram was obsessed with Worlds of Warcraft, Cooper loved Brazil nuts so much he would hoard them in his office like a squirrel and knew that Ressler was only truly happy when he was with Audrey. Yes there were good days and bad days but that was to be expected in their line of work.

Lizzie was able to make it through the day keeping busy. She had paperwork to file and a finale report to finish on the last Blacklister they caught. Blacklister. Red. Raymond Reddington. You couldn't think of one without being reminded of the other. It had been almost three days since she had heard from Red. He had, like always, called to tell her he had some business to take care of in Beijing and would be gone for a few days but to call if she needed him.

Since the arrival of Raymond Reddington, her life hadn't been the same. Before Red, she had a clear vision of what her professional life was going to be like. An FBI criminal profiler. Working in a small cubical at the FBI Headquarters in Washington D.C., Monday through Friday 9AM to 5PM. She had assumed that once her professional career leveled out she would then start working on having a personal one. Find somebody, fall in love, get married, kids, the whole shebang.

That was before Red.

Now, she was a field agent for the FBI. Yes she still did profiling of criminals but she also went out and caught them herself. Never had she thought she would be working 15 hour days, getting shot at, leaving at a moments notice to track down some of the worst criminals in the world.

Red had changed her life. Whether for the good or bad remains to be seen. She still didn't know why he picked her. Chose her to work with, to help, to "make famous".

She was a profiler, specially trained to understand the minds of criminals and yet Raymond Reddington continued to surprise her every single day. She never knows what he will say, do or react to any situation. Just when she thinks she can predicted his actions…BAM! He does something totally different. She doesn't know if he does that on purpose to rattle her or if that's just the man he is.

Time passed quickly when Lizzie spent time thinking about Red and before long the day had ended and it was time to go home, get changed and head out for her birthday party.

Every year Monica, her oldest friend from college, insisted Lizzie have a birthday party. And every year, Lizzie tried to talk her out of it and every year it did no good. Normally, she would get into it and start having fun once she got there but this year she just felt sad. She hadn't received her father's phone call or received the dozen yellow roses he would always send her. Always yellow roses because he said they, like her, could make anyone happy just by being around them.

But her friends did care about her enough to try and cheer her up by giving her a party, so Lizzie tried to put on a happy face. She smiled, laughed, joked, took pictures, opened gifts, ate a wonderful dinner and a delicious slice of birthday carrot cake, her favorite kind of cake.

The party had finally come to an end around 10PM. Lizzie and her friends stood outside the restaurant, hugging, kissing and saying goodnight. She promised to do her best and attend several upcoming functions her friends were giving and she would try. She cared about these people and knew they cared about her. She would try her best.

Since she knew she might have a drink or two, Lizzie took a cab to the restaurant and found herself in the backseat of another one, heading home. Lizzie sat quietly during the drive, holding a box of left over cake in her lap and several bags of gifts in the space next to her. It had started to rain slightly and Lizzie thought it fit her mood. She just couldn't seem to shake off this sad feeling. Was it just because of Sam not being here? Was it turning 31 that was making her depressed? She didn't feel any different then she had yesterday. What was it?

As the cab pulled up to the curb, Lizzie noticed a black four door Mercedes parked in front of her house.

Much as she tried not to, Lizzie smiled.

Lizzie paid her fare to the cabby, opened the backdoor and collected her things. Just as she shut the door, she felt the presence of Dembe behind her.

"Good evening, Ms. Keen." Dembe said to her softly, holding a black umbrella over their heads.

"Dembe. Is he in the house?" Lizzie asked.

"No Ma'am. He's in the car. May I take your things into your home though? He would like a word in the car." Dembe said taking her bags from her hands.

Lizzie frowned slightly before giving over her gift bags, her purse and her keys but keeping a hold of the cake box. Dembe gave her the umbrella before making his way up her front steps.

As she made her way to the car, she was just about to open the backdoor when suddenly the back window opened and out flew an array of colorful balloons. Lizzie giggled as she pushed the balloons aside and looking in the car.

Red sat grinning in his standard spot in the back drivers side seat, wearing a dark silver three piece suit she had never seen him wear before. In his lap was his ever present fedora hat, in the same matching silver.

"Happy Birthday Lizzie." Red said in his deep voice. "Get in out of the rain."

Lizzie pushed the balloons back into the car and opened the backdoor as the window began rolling up.

"So when did you get back?" Lizzie asked after she got settled in the car.

"About four hours ago. How was your party?" Red asked looking at her.

"Good. Really good." Lizzie said.

"I understand you've been rather sad today. Why?" Red asked.

Lizzie sat silence for a moment before saying, "How on Earth did you know that?"

Red just looked at her with a cocky grin on his face.

"Yes. Yes I woke up this morning feeling sad. It's probably because I'm getting old." Lizzie joked.

"You're no where near 'old' Lizzie. Is it because of your father not being here?"

"Maybe. A little." Lizzie said looking down at her lap.

"Well that's to be expected. This is your first birthday since your father passed. I'm sure Easter, Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas will all be difficult for you." Red said. "But instead of feeling sad, you should think about things you and your father did on those holidays."

Lizzie stayed silent as she listened to him.

"Your birthday for example, don't think about him not being here for this one, think about him being there for all the past ones. Like for the first birthday your had after you joined him. He took you camping. He taught you how to swim that weekend. He also taught you how to set up a tent and build a fire. Remember, how happy you were that you got to cook your own hotdog over that fire. You had your very first smore too."

Lizzie sat opened mouth watching him as he spoke. She had forgotten all about that! She remembered still feeling nervous and scared about being in a new home, with a new person. When he suggested they go camping for her birthday she had agreed, not because she wanted to go but because she hadn't felt comfortable with Sam yet to say no. She also remembers how sad she was when they had to leave the camping park and go home. She had so much fun that weekend! Sam DID teach her how to swim and build a fire. He also showed her how to tie different knots and when they went hiking, he showed her which plants and berries were poisonous and which would help in case of a first aid emergency.

"I can't believe I forgot that! As we were driving home that Monday morning, he told me he was sorry for not giving me a real girly-girl party. He said he wasn't good with all the girly stuff but he would try to get better at it. I told him I didn't care about that and how much fun I had." Lizzie said smiling at the memory of the drive home. "When we got home, on the dining room table were several gifts all wrapped up. Horribly wrapped! He said my major gift had been this weekend but he got a few little things for me to unwrap. That was the very first time I hugged him. He would hug and kiss and tell me he loved me all the time but I never initiated it. That day I did. I ran over to him and hugged him. I remember telling him how happy I was to be with him."

Red nodded as he listened to her talk. They both stayed silent for awhile before Lizzie blinked the unshed tears from her eyes and turned to face Red.

"Even if I were to ask, how did you know that, you wouldn't answer me would you?"

Red laughed slightly and said, "Probably not."

Lizzie just shook her head with a grin.

"I picked this up on my trip. How about we pop it open, dig in to that cake you have and we can talk some more about your father." Red said bending down to pick up the bottle of champagne at his feet.

"What about Dembe?" Lizzie said watching as he started to open the bottle.

"Oh he's fine. I'm sure he and Hudson are on the couch catching up on rugby on ESPN."

Lizzie smiled as Red popped the cork on the champagne bottle.

Maybe this is what I was needing today, she thought to herself. After all, every girl needs a little Red in her life!

The End!

A/N: Let me know what you think! Maybe somewhere down the road I'll write something else for another "first" holiday story.

Gold star for anyone who caught the little Sex and the City part LOl


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